Mohanty's gauntlet: let people decide

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, AUG. 9. The MCH will not mind `restoring' the demolished portion abutting the Chowmohalla Palace if HUDA thinks it is a heritage structure. But the civic body still feels the whole thing was done in `good faith'.

Reacting to a report in these columns, the MCH Commissioner, Dr. P.K. Mohanty, fears that the palace wall might collapse anytime and it might take a heavy toll. "The wall collapse at Jubilee Hills killed nine persons but this palace wall may claim 90 lives," he told presspersons here on Thursday. He even sought confirmation from engineers about how long it would be before the wall collapsed. However, he hastened to add, "I am not a pessimist".

Mohanty said he was caught between public safety and heritage rules. The Paigah tombs were also disintegrating. "Let people decide how to protect these structures", he said.

Nala course narrow

Earlier, the City-level Coordination Committee went round the Hussainsagar nala at different points where the desilting work was done. The nala course at Ashoknagar was found to be very narrow--just 12 metres wide when it ought to have been 42 metres wide.

Acquisition of adjacent buildings and raising the height of the retaining wall was considered the best option. Members of the committee came across a sand heap abutting the nala, near the Institute of Tropical Diseases, at Nallakunta. Dr. Mohanty ordered the material to be seized and a case booked against the violator.

He asked the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board to set up a sewerage treatment plant on the Ministers' Road to clean the lake water. There were some obstructions to the Balkapur nala which passed through the military area. It was decided to take up the matter with the Area Commander.

The MCH had set apart Rs. 30 crores for works this year. Of this amount, 10 per cent was spent on nala desilting. Nearly 300 of the 2,000 critical bottlenecks in the 5.6-km Hussainsagar surplus nala course were cleared. All the vents of the lake at Viceroy Hotel were opened and the corporation was better prepared to face any eventuality, it was revealed.

The committee found the jetty of the Sailing Club on the Secunderabad side of Tank Bund coming in the way of free flow of water. The Irrigation Department wanted it to be pushed inside, Dr. Mohanty said. He also said the Somajiguda road near Rajiv Gandhi statue would be widened from the existing 80 feet to 150 feet. A property belonging to the former President, Dr. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, would be affected. The former President's relatives had handed over the building for demolition, he added.

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